In Haiti, More LGBT-friendly Penal Code Prompts Outcry from Pulpit

 | 
07/23/2020

An overhaul of Haiti’s penal code that punishes marriage officiants who refuse to perform same-sex weddings is provoking outcry among religious leaders in the socially conservative Caribbean nation. The tension is emerging in a nation that has never spelled out LGBT rights and same-sex unions have never been recognized and homosexuality has never been expressly codified as illegal. At the heart of the current discussion is the rewrite of the 185-year-old penal code, decreed by Haitian President Jovenel Moise last month. It voids the work of lawmakers who were drafting legal reforms before parliament recessed and the COVID-19 pandemic arrived in the country. Published in an official government newsletter on June 24, the reforms would go into effect in 2022 unless a new parliament rejects the document.

Share this:

Latest Global News

Added on: 11/06/2024
11/05/2024
Democrat Sarah McBride became the first openly transgender person elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, Edison Research projected on Tuesday, winning election to …
Added on: 11/06/2024
11/05/2024
Lesbians and queer women in Haiti are living in fear after notorious gang leader Krisla, who is believed to be behind numerous heinous kidnappings, …
Added on: 11/06/2024
11/05/2024
The case of 36-year-old Sihle Mchunu, who has been missing since October 28, has cast a shadow of worry and uncertainty over her family …

Explore LGBTQ+ Issues

Added on: 11/06/2024
Lesbians and queer women in Haiti are living in fear after notorious gang leader Krisla, who is believed to be behind numerous heinous kidnappings, …
Added on: 09/09/2024
Yumisleidi Rodríguez, a transgender student in  Cuba, proudly shared on social media their ability to choose and wear the male school uniform at their educational …
Added on: 09/01/2024
The Dominican Republic’s Constitutional Court will hear a challenge on August 30, 2024, to laws that criminalize consensual same-sex conduct by officers in the …